By Bill Pritchard
Special to The News-Post

Some of the problem lawns in Nottingham Village, a newer subdivision off Md. 27 north of the town of Mount Airy, are hard to spot from the road. They’re green like the others and nicely trimmed.The differences are only noticeable close up. Jim Smith, owner of Royal Greens Lawn Care on Green Valley Road in Monrovia, specializes in finding those differences. With a customized treatment program, plus a reasonable length of time, his goal is to produce a healthy lawn that is uniform in color, dense and weed free.

Royal Green's David Zidek loads an automated spreader recently before starting his route. "Being a smaller company, we sell service," said Paula Smith, who owns Royal Greens in Monrovia, with husband, Jim. "They call here, they get me," Mrs. Smith said. "They don't get someone in Alabama or Tennessee. The customers know they can talk to a real person." Staff photo by Bill Green

The first stop on this sunny morning is at a two-story, single family home on Longbow Road, a referral from another customer in the area.

The owners have put a lot of imagination and effort in building a small, stone retaining wall near the front of the house for plants and shrubs. The front lawn though, has weeds, plus patches of light-green orchard grass that Mr. Smith attributes to the use of straw when the developer hydro-seeded the new yard.

He assesses the front yard as “not too bad,” but the back yard, he soon discovers, needs some work. It has a slope towards the house, bare spots, plantain, mustard plant, four or five kinds of clover—weeds that were apparently in the soil to begin with and “very little desirable turf grass.”

Using a measuring wheel, Mr. Smith estimates the total grass area at 8,000 square feet. His recommendation, which he leaves in a packet at the front door, along with a company brochure, is for the “essential care” service. That includes fertilizing and weed control, plus aeration and seeding in the fall, at a cost of about $41 per application.

Neighborhood pressure probably enters into a decision to use a lawn care service, Mr. Smith said. “I don’t think you want to be the one that has the bad lawn.”

His theory is that there are fewer do-it-yourselfers today. Some are put off by the expense of buying the material and equipment, storing it, and taking the time to do it, as well as researching the way to do it right, he said. “It doesn’t make practical sense to do it yourself any more.” Mr. Smith said. “And there’s no guarantee when you do it yourself.”

The cost is minimal, he said, compared to the mortgages on $400,000 houses and car payments on sports utility vehicles. “For $250 a year, you can have a decent looking lawn.” The trend, which started in the early to mid-1970s, Mr. Smith pointed out, is for people to contract out their lawn care. “They just don’t have the time to do it. They just want to have a nice-looking lawn, and they don’t have the expertise.”

Jim Smith’s expertise stems from an agronomy degree, with an emphasis on turf grass management. The goal for this avid golfer was to eventually be a golf course manager, but it was hard to find a good job at a golf course, and the better-paying field of lawn care was a draw for a struggling couple. After 19 years with Hydro-Lawn in Gaithersburg, he started his own lawn care business in 1996.

Next stop is on Gillis Road in Mount Airy, where another large, two-story house sits on about an acre or more. It’s another potential customer, one that responded to a direct mail ad. “This is the kind I love,” is the enthusiastic response from Jim Smith on seeing “a good foundation of turf grass.”

What will need some attention are a sprinkling of wild violets and dandelions. A shaded area in a corner is cause for concern. "A healthy lawn needs at least four hours of sun per day," Mr. Smith said.

The essential care package of five applications of fertilizer and weed control, along with the fall aeration and fertilizing, should work here also, he feels, and leaves the information at the front door. Mr. Smith addresses the concerns of what is applied to the lawn this way: “You have to use some common sense and exercise some caution,” he said. “We don’t use any materials that homeowners can’t go and buy themselves.”

He drove past the home of his first customer, 80-year-old Carlton Ridgly, who lives on Watersville Road. Mr. Ridgly has lived in Mount Airy all his life, for the past 37 years on Watersville Road, and has used the lawn service for the past seven or eight years.
The lawn looked in good shape. “He did a very good job,” Mr. Ridgley said. “It was full of weeds, dandelions, you name it.” It didn’t happen overnight, but the change was dramatic. “It’s weed-free and growing like crazy,” Mr. Ridgley said.

“You have to provide good service and proper communication with the customers,” Mr. Smith said of his approach to the lawn care business. “You want to create an expectation you can live up to or exceed. You have to be honest with the customer.” It isn’t enough to be able to do what anyone else can do with proper licensing and certification. In the local lawn care business, you need a competitive edge to survive.

That edge can take various forms—personal service, a powerhouse national ad campaign, specialized equipment, or an accommodation of homeowners’ increasing awareness of environmental concerns.

Royal Green's staff members are, from left, Paula Smith, owner; David Zidek, Jessie Smith and Josh Graybill, technicians; and Jim Smith, owner. These employees represent the workforce at Royal Greens. As such, the firm relies on repeat business and customer recommendations to survive. Staff photo by Bill Green

For Paula Smith, office manager of Royal Greens, of Monrovia, an eight-year-old-lawn care business, the key is service. “Being a smaller company, we sell service,” Mrs. Smith said. “They call here, they get me. They don’t get someone in Alabama or Tennessee. The customers know they can talk to a real person.”

If a customer has a problem, she’ll contact one of the three technicians on the road to check it out, or even have her husband, Jim, the company owner, stop by to talk to the customer. Which leaves little time for an extensive marketing campaign. “In place of that,” Mrs. Smith said, “the company relies on repeat business and recommendations from its customers in Frederick, Howard, Carroll and Montgomery counties.”